[2017] Dining and Traditions: Freely Experience Japanese Culture with Tokyo's Events in June

Date published: 30 May 2016
Last updated: 28 June 2017

Despite being a city filled with skyscrapers, Tokyo offers a ton of events to experience the changing seasons. With plenty of festivities to enjoy Japanese traditional entertainment and culture, Japan has many a unique thing to share with the world.

The Oedo Antique Market

<June 18th (Sun)>
This antique market began in 2003 and its purpose is to "take another look at fine antiquities and rediscover the culture of Japan while providing a place to interact and exchange the cultural arts." With around 250 booths participating, it boasts a reputation as Japan's largest-scale market of its kind. You will not only find Japanese ceramics, kimono, and woodblock prints but antiques from Western countries as well. This event will also take place on June 25th (Sun) at Yoyogi Park's Keyaki-Namiki (Zelkova tree) street.

"Hotaru no Yūbe" Firefly Night 2017

The Shibuya Fureai Botanical Centre is a garden that uses electrical power generated from the Shibuya incineration plant. With small creeks that flow throughout the facility, the garden grows 200 types of tropical plants, succulent plants, insectivorous plants, and more in this "Green Garden" greenhouse with two kinds of Japanese fireflies dancing about, the Heikebotaru (Luciola lateralis) and Genjibotaru (Luciola cruciata).
Photo: Tomoichi Tomatsu

The 24th Gujō Odori in Aoyama

<June 23rd (Fri), 24th (Sat)>
Gujō Odori, a dance handed down as a tradition of Gujyoshi Hachimancho in the central area of the Gifu prefecture, can be experienced at this event happening in Tokyo's Aoyama area. The Gujō Dance has a history of about 420 years. There are 10 types of dances, each of them are registered as an important intangible national cultural asset of Japan. The Gujō Odori begins from 5:00 p.m. on both days, on the 23rd it ends at 8:30 p.m. and at 8:00 p.m. on the 24th. From 1 p.m. there will be an exhibition of local specialty products of the Gujō District.

Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium Parking Lot

秩父宮ラグビー場 駐車場

Address2-8-35 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo-to, 107-0061

The Tanabata Kigan-sai (Prayer Festival)

<July 7th (Thu)>
This festival is held at the Tokyo Daijingu, the Grand Shrine known for providing divine blessings for ties of love and marriage. On July 7th, Japan celebrates a day called Tanabata (the Star Festival), where once a year, it is believed that the deities Hikoboshi (Altair) and Orihime (Vega) are able to meet. One Tanabata custom is where people write their wishes on tanzaku (Japanese paper strips for poetry) and hang them on bamboo. In order for the wishes to come true, a prayer festival is held at the Grand Shrine. The tanzaku are prepared between June 1st and July 7th. The tanzaku with wishes written on them are tied to bamboo trees, and the tree of wishes are put by the front shrine by the 7th and are lit up every day until 9 p.m.